In a recent paper on this Journal (J. Catal. 369 (2019) 257-266), we reported on the effect of ppm amounts of iron compounds on the palladium/iodide (and even palladium/chloride) catalytic system for the oxidative carbonylation of aniline to diphenylurea. In a "Polemic" against our work, Gabriele and coworkers argued against some of the conclusions we had drawn and even against our experimental practice. Here, we reply in detail to this polemic. Some of the content of the latter is due to some misunderstanding, whereas some assertions are untenable and in contrast with experimental data. (C) 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.